This has never happened before, dear hearts, but it’s time!
Wearing my able to choose tank top, along with some more winter-ish layers, I am officially doing Sunday’s blog post today and – gasp! – taking Sunday off!
It has a lot to do with irony.
For many of us, this day – known as Epiphany – marks the day the weary Magi arrived at the stable where Mary and Joseph were sheltering with the new-born baby Jesus because, as the old story goes, there was no room for them at the inn. (Which, if you’ll recall, had a lot to do with politics…)
Thus, as I learned it, there were also angels and shepherds, a donkey, and some sheep and cattle, milling about, along with – at least at our house – a sheep herding dog called a Puli who came from Hungary. (Little black fuzzy guy in the photo!)
Much of that story has to do with being led by light.
Today is also the Orthodox Christmas Eve in Ukraine, where I can only imagine some more light would be welcome.
And, in what feels like really bad management by somebody’s calendar elves, it is the second anniversary of the January 6 insurrection in America.
The irony doesn’t end there, though, for the US House of Representatives is still in the midst of the seemingly endless attempt to elect a Speaker of the House.
Add to that, a flare on the personal orthopedic pain front, and I’ve needed some dots. Well, lots of dots.
And yes, my #Matrica painting volunteered again.
As the blatant jockeying for power and votes went on, I began again with dots for hope.
Then, justice.
And, then, another shift, on CNN and inside me.
You see, we took a break from the so-called election to “attend” a White House ceremony in which 14 people were awarded Presidential Citizens Awards on the 1/6 anniversary.
Several of those awards were given posthumously and accepted by tearful family members. Others were given to current and former officers involved in defending the US Capitol. Still others went to folks like election workers in several states, involved in upholding actual voting results. (Yay, Georgia!)
Here’s the thing I noticed most. Amidst all the pomp and ceremony, there were tears and hugs and even jokes. And, in the middle of all the very human feelings, was a guy known as POTUS… Joe Biden.
And, somewhere along the line, in the midst of the blatantly ironic contrast between all the then and now news, my prayer dots shifted again.
Love…………………………….
As you know I have a thing for questions, so you won’t be real surprised that, about that time, I realized that all of the traditions and news and dots and prayers were about questions.
On the surface, those things are What? and How? questions.
What happens, though, if we shift the question, and ask, Why?
For me, the answer – loud and clear – is Love.
And, yes, that raises a whole flock of other questions… the hardest of them, I suspect, being Whom?
Now, I’m a whole long way from being good at this – yet – but I’m going to stay on the road of living as though the answer to Whom? is All of us!
It’s not easy, but I’ve got an epically good teacher! And a couple of really good reasons!
That’s why I’m declaring this weekend to be time for nurturing my Spirit!
You could join me…
ps… curious about the triangles and dots? A favorite liberated version of an old quilt pattern called flying geese. Mine are Wild Flying Geese with intentional Celtic overtones of the Holy Spirit!
pps… questions about your path? I can help! Just click and the calendar elves will hook you up with 45 minutes as my gift. (It’s going to take a lot of us!)